Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav will fight the upcoming UP Assembly elections- his first- from the Karhal seat in Mainpuri district, party general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav said during a press conference on Saturday. The Assembly seat is currently represented by SP leader Sobaran Yadav. Akhilesh has promised to create 22 lakh jobs in the IT sector.

Late Goa CM Manohar Parrikar's son Utpal Parrikar has quit BJP after he was denied a ticket from Panaji for the upcoming Goa elections. "I'll be contesting as an independent candidate from Panaji constituency," Utpal said on Friday. Earlier, Arvind Kejriwal had said he is welcome to contest polls on an AAP ticket. Notably, Manohar Parrikar represented Panaji since 1994.

NCP MP and actor Amol Kolhe is facing criticism for playing the role of Nathuram Godse in 'Why I Killed Gandhi', which is due to release digitally on January 30. Supporting Kolhe, NCP supremo Sharad Pawar said, "We should all look at Kolhe's role in the movie as an actor." Meanwhile, Kolhe said he has never supported Godse's ideologies.

Amid a surge in COVID-19 cases, a video of Madhya Pradesh BJP leader Imarti Devi throwing away a mask handed to her by AAP volunteers on Friday has surfaced online. The video showed her sitting in a car without a mask when she is given a mask by a volunteer, which she threw out of the window soon after.

Late Goa CM Manohar Parrikar's son Utpal Parrikar on Saturday said he will withdraw his candidature if BJP fields a "good candidate" from Panaji. Utpal had sought a ticket from Panaji, a seat held by his father since 1994. "I'm not happy...but sometimes you've to take tough decisions," Utpal said about quitting BJP. He will contest as independent from Panaji.

A day after suggesting that she could be Congress' CM candidate for the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, party General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Saturday clarified her remarks saying that no such decision has been taken by Congress. Earlier on Friday, when asked about party's CM face, Priyanka had said, "You can see my face everywhere, can't you?"

The Election Commission on Saturday extended the ban on physical rallies and roadshows for five poll-bound states till January 31, 2022. The EC introduced relaxations in Phase 1 and 2 by permitting physical public meetings of political parties in open spaces with a maximum of 500 people. The limit for door to door campaigning increased from 5 to 10 persons.

Expelled Uttarakhand minister Harak Singh Rawat on Friday joined the Congress party in Delhi in the presence of former CM Harish Rawat, ahead of the Assembly polls. Following his expulsion from BJP, Harak had said that he will join Congress and that the party will form the government in Uttarakhand. Harak had left Congress to join the BJP in 2016.

AAP MLA Raghav Chadha has sued a man from Patiala, Saurabh Jain, for allegedly making defamatory remarks about him on social media platforms. Jain allegedly called him a "dalal", "baiman" and "goonda". Metropolitan Magistrate Rishabh Kapoor took cognizance of Chadha's complaint and will examine witnesses on April 26. Chadha claimed Jain wanted to "derail the positive work undertaken by" AAP.

Aparna Yadav, the daughter-in-law of Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav who joined BJP earlier this week, met him on Friday and sought his blessings. She shared a picture where she was seen touching Mulayam's feet. Earlier, Mulayam Yadav's son and SP chief Akhilesh Yadav said his father tried to convince Aparna to not join BJP.

Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday said that "partnership" with political strategist Prashant Kishor did not work out last year for multiple reasons. "Some on his part, some on our part...Broadly there was an inability to agree on certain issues," she added. There was a real effort to induct Kishor in the Congress party, Priyanka further said.

Ahead of Uttar Pradesh Assembly election, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said she might fight the elections, adding, "It's an open question for now." She further said that it would be wrong to assume that she's Congress' Chief Ministerial candidate. Earlier, when asked about party's CM face, Priyanka had said, "You can see my face everywhere, can't you?"

The police on Friday filed a charge-sheet against four farmers in connection with the Lakhimpur Kheri violence in UP in which at least eight persons died. Video footage, mobile phones and call detail records were submitted as evidence against the accused farmers. The charge-sheet claims that the farmers attacked the driver and BJP workers with an intention to kill them.

BJP on Friday released its second list having 85 candidates for the upcoming UP polls and fielded former Congress leader and Rae Bareli Sadar MLA Aditi Singh from Rae Bareli. Former Kanpur Police Commissioner Asim Arun has been given a ticket from Kannauj. BJP has fielded Hariom Yadav, a distant relative of Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav, from Sirsaganj.

Senior BJP leader Laxmikant Parsekar, who served as Goa's CM from 2014-2017 when Manohar Parrikar was inducted into Union Cabinet as a Defence Minister, said on Saturday he will quit BJP. Parsekar was denied a ticket from Mandrem seat, which he represented from 2002-2017. "I've decided to resign. What I should be doing next, would be decided later," he said.

A BJP leader and former 'block pramukh' Sugreev Singh along with his up to 300 other unnamed supporters were booked on Thursday for allegedly violating the Model Code of Conduct and COVID-19 guidelines, the SHO of the police station in Uttar Pradesh's Pinahat said. The accused were apparently holding a meeting at the leader's milk plant, the police said.

Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi said on Friday that he will file a defamation suit against his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal for calling him a "dishonest man". Kejriwal had made the remark for Channi after the Enforcement Directorate conducted a raid on Channi's nephew Bhupinder Singh in an illegal sand mining case. This comes ahead of state Assembly elections.

LJP (Ram Vilas) chief Chirag Paswan on Friday said that his party has written a letter to Bihar Governor Phagu Chauhan to recommend President's rule in the state. He added that this is to "stop more deaths due to consumption of spurious liquor". This comes as about 16 people died in hooch tragedies in Bihar in the last seven days.

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Saturday released a list of 51 candidates for the upcoming Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh. Addressing a press conference, she also announced the new party slogan, 'Har polling booth ko jitana hai, BSP ko satta mein lana hai’. She said the names of the remaining four candidates will be disclosed soon.

AAP's CM candidate from Punjab, Bhagwant Mann, on Saturday, invited Congress leader and Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi to contest against him from Dhuri seat. "I can't fight from Chamkaur Sahib [constituency of Channi]...it's...reserved seat, but he can fight from Dhuri...I welcome him," Mann said. Notably, Mann on Saturday visited the Shri Ram Tirath Mandir and Golden Temple in Amritsar.

Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi on Friday said he has no problem if the Congress party names Navjot Singh Sidhu as the chief ministerial candidate for the upcoming state Assembly elections. Channi said, "Sidhu is my brother and there'll be no problem of any kind if...party decides to do so." Assembly elections in Punjab will be held on February 20.

PM Narendra Modi, while speaking virtually at the inauguration of the new Circuit House near Somnath temple, said on Friday said that after Independence, "new things were constructed only for a few families from Delhi". However, he added that today, "the country is leaving behind that narrow thinking, building new places of pride [and] giving them grandeur."

The Congress on Friday demanded that an all-party delegation of MPs should visit the Line of Actual Control (LAC) under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership after a 17-year-old Arunachal Pradesh boy was allegedly abducted by the Chinese army. Congress spokesperson Shaktisinh Gohil claimed Rahul Gandhi had warned the PM on Chinese incursion but the latter didn't take the threat seriously.

A petition has been filed in Supreme Court against political parties promising or distributing "irrational" freebies from public funds before elections, claiming that such actions can influence voters. It sought that the apex court should direct the Election Commission to seize election symbols and deregister political parties that do so. This comes ahead of Assembly elections in five states.

Ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections in Uttarakhand, expelled BJP leader and state cabinet minister Harak Singh Rawat on Friday joined the Congress party. "[BJP] thought of me as a use and throw. I was very upset," Rawat said after joining Congress. Reportedly, Rawat was dismissed from the Uttarakhand Cabinet and expelled from the BJP on Monday for "anti-party activities".